AGO 580.

• Case Date: April 03, 2006
• Court: North Carolina

North Carolina Attorney General Opinions 2006. AGO 580. Opinion No. 580Reply to: DIANE G. MILLER INSURANCE SECTION (919)716-6610 FAX:(919)716-6757 April 3, 2006Rodney S. Maddox Chief Deputy Secretary of StateNorth Carolina Department of the Secretary of StateP.O. Box 29622Raleigh, N.C. 27626-0622 Re: Advisory Opinion; Public Records Law - Criminal Records; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4 (2005)Dear Mr. Maddox: This letter is in response to your request for an opinion whether records obtained and produced by the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State (hereinafter "the Department") solely for the purpose of making a report of an apparent criminal violation under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 120-47.10, fall within the exception to the Public Records Act found in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4. In our opinion, as a general rule, the records in your possession are not records of criminal investigations or intelligence and are a public record. In reaching this determination, we considered relevant statutes from the Public Records Act, as well as current and recent amendments to the lobbying laws. Public records, as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1, mean "[a]ll documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions." The Public Records Act clearly permits public access to all public records in an agency's possession "unless either the agency or the record is specifically exempted from the statute's mandate." Times-News Publishing Co. v. State, 124 N.C. App. 175, 176, 474 S.E.2d 450, 451-52 (1996), disc. review denied, 345 N.C. 645, 483 S.E.2d 717 (1997); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1 et seq. You inquire if the records in question are exempt from the Public Records Act under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4(a) provides in part that "[r]ecords of criminal investigations conducted by public law enforcement agencies or records of criminal intelligence information compiled by public law enforcement agencies are not public records as defined by G.S. 132-1." The threshold question therefore is to...